Five months
by lynn05
Summary: Five months ago…
1. chapter 1

Five Months Ago…

I stood against the edge of the school building with my two friends Cherry and Marcia when I heard a voice yell, "Want a haircut, grease?" Cherry looked at me as I started to follow the voice. She grabbed my arm, "Come on, Ari. It's no use. It won't do any good." I pulled myself out of her grip and continued walking.

As I turned the corner of the school, I saw a group of five Socs surrounding a small boy. They backed him up against the wall and held a knife to his throat. "Hey! Leave him alone, will ya?" I yelled. The Soc with the knife turned to me. "Or what, hun?" He spat back. "Come on, just leave him alone." I pleaded. They dropped him to the ground and started walking towards me. I started to tremble, because when Socs know what they want they go for it.

"Awe, come on pretty lady. We ain't gonna hurt ya!" The Soc said. Without thinking, I slapped him in the face. I immediately regretted it though, because as soon as I did, they pinned me to the wall. He pulled his blade out once again and slid it across my cheek, creating a deep gash. I yelped in pain as they held the blade against my throat. I knew they could kill me, and I knew they would.

Just then, a boy, whom I had recognized, were chasing the Socs away from me, and the boy whom I had saved before had been by my side. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked. The boy looked at me and gave a small chuckle, "I should be asking you that!" I smiled as he introduced himself, "I'm Ponyboy Curtis." I smiled, "Well Pony, I'm Ariana."

Another voice came from behind us, "Hey there doll, that was pretty brave of ya. Especially for a Soc." I turned around and glared at him. "Whoa! And a beautiful one too!" I gave him another glare, "And who might you be?" He laughed as he lit a cigarette. "The name's Dallas Winston." As soon as I heard that name I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Dallas Winston? As in the one who always tries to put the moves on me at The Dingo?" I chuckled. He grinned, "Yup!" I turned back to Pony but he wasn't there. I looked around for him and spotted him next to a boy who looked about my age.

I walked up to them and as soon as I did, they stopped talking. I turned to the boy, "Hey there, I've seen you around before! Johnny, right?" His face turned beet red. "Y-yeah. Y-you're A-Ariana. You're a cheerleader." I smiled and nodded. "Was, not anymore. Too girly for me," I responded. Dallas came over to where we were all standing. "Hey Pony, I told Soda you'd be home by four." I turned to Pony, "Soda?"

We started walking, and he nodded, "my older brother. He'll definitely like you!" I realized Johnny hadn't talked much. "Hey, Johnny. You okay?" He nodded, "There are two girls from the drive-in following us." I turned around, "Oh, Cherry, Marcia, I will see ya at school tomorrow!" They stopped and I turned around. "Friends?" Dally asked, lighting up another cigarette. "Kinda. I only know em' cause I was on the cheer squad." I said back, "I could never be as stuck up as them though." I laughed. Johnny was staring at me but I pretended not to notice.

When we walked in the door of Pony's house, there were a bunch of other boys there. "Hey Pony, hey Johnnycake! What broad did Dal bring home today?" One said. "I am not Dallas Winston's 'broad', and I never will be," I said back frowning. Dallas walked in and said, "Awe, well that's too bad."

I rolled my eyes as a handsome boy came into the room from the kitchen along with a man who looked like he was in his 20's. "Hey there sweets, the name is Sodapop," the handsome one said with a smile and a wink. The man spoke up next saying, "I'm Darry, and that's Two-bit over there." he said pointing to the boy who had called me a 'broad' earlier. I smiled and introduced myself, "I'm Ariana. Ponyboy invited me."

Ponyboy looked my way and smiled. "Hey Ariana, would you like to join me and Johnny at The Dingo tomorrow night?" I nodded.

"Hey, I better get going. It was nice meeting you all though," I smiled as I took a step towards the door. I heard someone being shoved and a bunch of whispers behind me. Before I could reach the door a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around to see Johnny. "Let me walk ya," he said with a smile. I nodded as we headed out the door to my place.

When we reached my house, I stopped to turn to Johnny. "Thank you, Johnny for walking me home," I said as I turned to the house. I stopped at the door, turned around and yelled, "Be safe, Johnny!" In the morning, I got ready and put on my skinny jeans with holes in them, my white tee shirt. I ran into the bathroom and put on light makeup and threw my hair in a messy bun. I ran outside and put my sneakers on. I started walking to the park when I heard a voice call me. "Hey, Ariana! Wait up!" I stopped as Johnny ran up beside me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him. "I was on my way to Pony's house, wanna come?" I looked at his eyes and they gleamed with hope. "Why not," I said shrugging. On our way, we talked about our favorite movies. When we arrived at Ponyboy's house, I followed Johnny up the stairs and through the door. "Hey Johnny, hey Ariana!" Ponyboy yelled from the kitchen. "Hey," I said back. Ponyboy looked from me to Johnny then back to me. "Two's givin' us a ride, but then he's goin' to the bar," Ponyboy said after a moment. Just after he had said that we heard a car horn from outside. We looked at each other and then we all ran out the door. After Two-but dropped us off and we all said thank you, we went in through a hole in the side of the drive-in. We took our seats and we all were quiet. Johnny broke the silence though. "Hey, I'm goin' to get some Coke's and some popcorn, you guys want any?" I looked up at him and smiled, "sure Johnny. Here." I handed him five quarters, which to us was a lot. He smiled and thanked me and then left.

When he was gone, Ponyboy looked at me and smiled. "What?" I asked laughing. "You can't tell Johnny I told ya this, but he really likes ya. He's had a major crush on ya since third grade." He said smirking. I could only blush at this because, the truth is, I've had a crush on Johnny Cade also since the third grade. I could never tell anybody because, ya know, I'm a Soc and he's a greaser.

"Nice to hear," I said smiling. A voice came from behind us, "what's nice to hear?" Pony looked at me with begging eyes. "Oh, nothing Johnny."


	2. Chapter Two

(Present Day)

I was walking in the park with Ponyboy when he brought up a familiar conversation. "You and Johnny are amazing friends, ya know? Johnny and I have never had the type of relationship that you two have," he stated, but you could've sworn that he emphasized the words 'you two.' You nodded and shrugged. "When you first moved here in third grade, man, that was the first time I had actually seen Johnny smile. Like actually."

I felt like I needed to tell someone how I felt about Johnny, I can't keep it in the shade forever. "Ya know Pony, I kinda-" I was cut off by Dally coming up behind us. "Hey, man. What ya guys talkin' about?" I looked at Pony and we both looked at Dally. "Nothing," we both said in unison. Dally looked at us with a skeptical look, and then he lit a cigarette.

"Aye, I'm goin' to the drive-in tonight if you guys wanna come," Dally said, no expression on his face. "Uh, I can't tonight. I'm leaving early in the morning to go back to Florida to visit my mom for the weekend. Hey, do you guys wanna come?" I asked. I think I sounded a little too hopeful, because both Pony and Dally said, "Sure." "Hey, Ari, do ya care if I invite the rest of the gang?" Pony asked. "Not at all! It will be a lot of fun!" I said, smiling at the thought.

With that, Pony and I both raced to his house. He won, of course, and when we both ran into the house, we were both panting and out of breath. "You alright guys?" Soda asked. "Did you get into some trouble with some Socs?" He asked as Darry walked into the living room from the kitchen. I laughed and Pony said, "No! But we have some great news! Ariana invited us to come with her to Florida!" Darry looked at me surprised. "We can't do that Ari. That is a lot of money for plane tickets." I smiled, "Darry, I invited you guys because my mom sent seven more train tickets."

They all went crazy when I said that. I looked around and noticed that we were missing someone. "Hey, where is Johnnycake?" I said. "He went to take a walk a while ago. Hasn't came back yet." Two-bit said. 'Oh no.' I thought. "Socs," I mumbled as my eyes went wide.

I ran out the door and down the street. I spotted him near the lot with three Socs surrounding him. "Hey!" I shouted. "Get away from him!" This felt all too familiar. "Or what?" One of them said. I pulled out the switchblade that Dallas had given to me. "Or I will cut you all to ribbons!" I yelled. They stared at me, looking for a sign of resistance. When they found none, they got into their car and drove off.

I ran to Johnny's side, and it appeared I had gotten there before any harm was done. "Ariana?" Johnny said looking at me with his huge black eyes. "Oh my God Johnny. Are you okay?" I said as I pulled him into a hug. "Ariana," Johnny started, "why did you do that? Like ya know, threaten them? You never threaten anyone." I looked at him surprised. "I did that was because they were going to hurt ya Johnnycake," I said.

When he got back to his feet, we saw the boys running towards us. "Hey, are you guys alright?" Soda asked as he ran to us. "Yeah, just some dirty Socs was all," I responded. "Ariana pulled her switch on them and threatened them," Johnny said, still trembling. They all looked at me. "What? I was just protecting Johnnycake!" I said.

We all started walking back to the house and we talked about Florida. "Wait, what trip to Florida?" Johnny said confused. "Oh, sorry Johnny. I guess we kinda forgot you didn't know. I invited everyone to Florida to come for the weekend," I told him. "Really? Oh wow, thanks Ariana," Johnny said, with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Hey! You know what? The train station is only a five-minute walk from my house, so why don't we all just crash at my house?" Pony requested. "I'm in," Two-bit said. Dally nodded. I joined in, "that's a great idea, Pony! You coming too, Johnny?" He nodded, "sure." "Count me in!" Steve yelled.

When we got to Pony's house, it was already really late, so we all headed to bed. Darry, Soda, and Pony slept in their rooms, Steve, Two-Bit, and Dally slept on the floor, and Johnny slept on one couch while I slept on the other. 'I really should tell him how I feel,' I thought to myself. 'I will tell him someday,' I concluded with myself.


End file.
